Passions of the Soul

Bedtime with Bailey

When (Beagle) Bailey first came to live with us, she exhibited such extreme separation anxiety (still does) that we allowed her to sleep on our bed, with us. That became undesirable for two reasons: The first had nothing to do with Bailey, exactly, but if she was allowed in the room, then we couldn't keep Kat out, and I get no sleep, if Kat is allowed in. The second reason was Bailey: No matter in what position she starts out, before long, she sleeps perpendicular to each of us, and in between. Seen from above, I imagine we'd form a kind of H, although the two verticle lines would be a little wavy.

So we moved her out to the sofa, making a nice bed for her with soft (cheap) towels and a stuffed "bone" for her head. She loves to burrow--another challenge, when she was on the bed with us--so we laid another cheap towel over her.

I don't remember why, but eventually, we started tucking her in on the guest bed, which she shares with Kat. Kat presents challenges with this arrangement, as well, because he is likely to knead her, or to crawl into her space with her. That often results in her getting up and whining for Dad to go tuck her in, again.

But here is an example of the challenge she, herself, presents at bedtime. None of our previous dogs did this, probably because they played out in the yard, ran around, chased each other, etc. Not our sedentary little doggy; she holds in all her energy until bedtime. What a trip.

Where in the World Is Vicki?

Don't get excited; I'm right at home and not out traveling. I just haven't felt like blogging, in the last three weeks. Here I sat while we put up with Southwest Gas Company's outage--imagine that: I just made a typo, putting a strategic r in outage--for almost four full days without heat or hot water, and couldn't think of anything to blog about.

You can blame social networking, too, for my sparser posting, this past year or so. It's easier to go on FB and say something--which, on occasion, is even worth saying--than to come in here and compose a post. To no one's surprise, I've never had many readers; I haven't even looked at my stat's in a while, but the daily average has been slipping for a while. And well-deserved, I might add.

Yet, I don't want to give up my blog, because sometimes, something really strikes me, even inspires me, and this is where I want to post it. Of course, then, I link to it on FB, in the hope that someone will actually read it and comment on it. I've participated in some discussions on the few blogs I used to read, but I've never succeeded in getting more than one or maybe two (including my own response!) on my posts...and those are rare. Maybe you have to have a much larger readership to get people who comment on the post. I have friends who will read my posts and comment in an e-mail to me. I appreciate the feedback, but I could just send out what I post as e-mails for all the comments I generate on the blog.

I know, too, that my readership goes up when I post more. Funny, how that works.

One prominent Christian businessman whose blog comes to my e-mail Inbox recently wrote a post about why he's stopped reading some of the blogs he used to read. So many of his reasons were applicable to my blog that I felt pretty defensive, I can tell you. But some of his criticisms also were not valid, though they were true of my blog. I never did blog for all the reasons he blogs.

I started my blog for two reasons: First, I wanted a venue for writing whatever was on my mind, where maybe, now and then, someone would read it. Second, I was (and am) involved with Compassion International, sponsoring children and advocating for them as a volunteer, trying to find opportunities to share the Compassion ministry and find sponsors for more children; I wanted to write about that, and I have. I think Compassion is the largest word in my Catogories "cloud."

But I write about other things, too, sometimes serious things, but not always. And as I'm writing this, I suddenly realize that I have missed writing. Often, I don't really know what I want to say, until I'm writing (like now), and I miss that creative outlet. (The ghosts of many of my former students are moaning, big time, about now.)

The book-review blogging (now known, oddly, as "BookSneeze") came later.

So, as bloggers go, I guess I'm fairly pathetic, and I'll try to do better. But I will never have the 20,000 readers a day that are required for me to qualify for a Compassion Bloggers' tour. You know what? That's okay. I probably wouldn't handle fame very well.

And if you want to know more about child sponsorship through Compassion, leave a comment or question. I have several packets on hand (with expiration dates), each one for a real child who is waiting. Three of them have been waiting more than a year--one, almost two years. Isn't that sad? I have those three photos in an album on my FB Profile page (here; not sure if you have to be on FB to see them); I will add the other photos in the next few days. I so want to find people who will end the wait for these kids, and I appreciate those of my FB friends who Share those photos on their own pages.

You can also click on the widget (left side) on this page to sponsor the child shown, or choose the child of your heart here. The cost is $38 per month, only $1.25 per day, and your love, encouragement and prayers for the child will bolster his or her hopes of having a future without poverty. How's that for a legacy?